OT: Sale of Good or Services Act - advice needed

optimisticbiker

So, noticed a growing stain on the kitchen ceiling below the shower... and ceiling is wet

Quick investigation shows that an edge tile around the sunken shower tray is loose so decide to remove said tile and refit/regrout it... pull tile out and find that the supporting woodwork behind isnt there any more just a mass of rotted fibres as well as the joist...clearly the woodwork (marine ply supposedly) wasn't up to the job or wasn't sealed appropriately before the tiles were fitted (apparently this is good practice according to what I have googled). and clearly this isn't going to be a 5 minute job any more as probably means lifting the floor tiles (i.e. replacing them) and the wooden flooring below that... Its 2years 4months since bathroom was done...

So phone up the company concerned, who immediately say 'Guarantee is 2 years mate, nothing we can (or will) do'. Now as I understand it, the Sale of Good and Services gives me 6 years and that cannot be overridden by their guarantee. Am I right? And if they refuse to discuss the issue am I within my rights to get the work done by someone else and then sue them or their insurance company for the costs?

Thoughts?

rjsterry

Sketchley seems to be your man for SOGA advice and I'm not sure how that extends to construction work, but from my experience of construction contracts, the 6 year liability would supersede any 'guarantee'. The difference is that outside the guarantee period, the onus falls on you to prove that the work is defective.

What form of contract did you use with the bathroom fitters? There are various standard forms of construction contract, with sets of terms and conditions covering how defective work is dealt with, but even if it's a more bespoke/proprietary agreement, there should be some T&Cs.

Lastly, it does sound as though the tiling installation fell some way short of what should have been done. On our projects, we always specify a waterproof membrane - e.g. Tilesafe - between the plywood boarding and tiles. With the best will in the world, grout alone won't keep a tiled floor waterproof.

godders1

Six years is the limit for making a claim, not how long something is expected to last (this isn't defined as different things will last varying amounts of time).

If the goods/work could reasonably be expected to last longer than it has then you may have a case. Unfortunately after the first six months the burden of proof is on the consumer.

Have a read of this:

http://www.bis.gov.uk/files/file25486.pdf

tailwindhome

My first call would be to your House Insurance provider.

We had a similar incident with badly installed plumbing from the shower. It started raining in our living room on Christmas Eve.

DrLex

Such fault may be considered a latent defect.

optimisticbiker

rjsterry wrote:

Sketchley seems to be your man for SOGA advice and I'm not sure how that extends to construction work, but from my experience of construction contracts, the 6 year liability would supersede any 'guarantee'. The difference is that outside the guarantee period, the onus falls on you to prove that the work is defective.

What form of contract did you use with the bathroom fitters? There are various standard forms of construction contract, with sets of terms and conditions covering how defective work is dealt with, but even if it's a more bespoke/proprietary agreement, there should be some T&Cs.

The contract is the company's own, the Guarantee section reads:

Guarantees.
The company will give a two year guarantee with any service or installation provided,(this not include the supply of goods, these will carry separate warranties as provided by the manufacturer) the customer will contact the company during working hours to alert the company of any issue. The company will normally visit the site within 7 days of first contact to look at and discuss the issue. The company if required will arrange with the customer a suitable time to complete the remedial works as required.

When the installer completes the works, they will ask you to check the work and sign an installation document, this document must be signed at this time, any issues, shortfalls or general comments should be noted on this document.

The company will contact the customer normally within 2 weeks of the work being complete to organise a site visit to check all installations.

The customer will fill in any guarantee documentation that is provided with any appliances, the customer must keep the proof of purchase from the company to validate the guarantees provided by any supplier of goods. i.e. kitchen units, appliances etc.
I the customer have read and agree to the terms and conditions on this document.

This does not affect you statuary rights.(sic)

rjsterry wrote:

Lastly, it does sound as though the tiling installation fell some way short of what should have been done. On our projects, we always specify a waterproof membrane - e.g. Tilesafe - between the plywood boarding and tiles. With the best will in the world, grout alone won't keep a tiled floor waterproof.

That's certainly what I understand from reading some articles on the Internet. The issue here is this is a Kitchen company who were getting into Bathrooms and while I wasn't the first one they had done I suspect it wasn't too many before.

@Godders1: Thanks for that, think I've read the same thing in essence elsewhere... I think the fact that the wood has rotted completely and at least one floor tile is supported on thin air is sufficient proof that this was a latent defect

@DrLex: Thanks - useful words to use...

@TailWindHome: Not sure I want to involve my Home Insurance as yet, to my mind its the Suppliers responsibility to correct the fault. However my Home Insurance does have a legal support unit so if it gets nasty I will use that...

joelsim

I think you just say to them that you will be contacting your home insurance legal support people, so they will be hearing from them shortly. Then see what they say.